CONCEPT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING:
Different thinkers have offered different definitions of cooperative learning. However, the definition of David and Roger Johnson of the University of Minnesota is frequently used in the context of higher education. According to Which, operationalization is a process in which Students work collaboratively to complete an assigned task in an environment that includes the following elements:
1:-Positive
Interdependence:
Team members are required to trust each other to achieve
their respective goals. If a team member fails to do his job properly, it
affects the performance of the entire team.
2:-INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY:
All students in the group are responsible to do their part in the assigned task or material.
3:-
FACE TO FACE PROMOTIVE INTERACTION:
Part of the work assigned to the group can be done
individually by students, but it is very important that some part of the work
should be done together and providing feedback to each other and discussing the
problem with each other. They should draw conclusions and most importantly
learn together and encourage each other.
4:-
APPROPRIATE USE OF COLLABORATIVE SKILLS:
In this context students are encouraged and supported to
learn and practice trusting each other, communicating with each other and
overcoming interpersonal differences.
5:- GROUP PROCESSING:
Team members set a goal for themselves, periodically review what they are doing, identify changes that have occurred during their work, and determine how to make the desired changes in the future. How will they work effectively?
Cooperative learning depends on the nature of the
conversation that takes place among the students in the group. Discussion on a
question helps to understand the meaning and develop an understanding of the
problem. Research has shown that by discussing solutions to a problem and
explaining the answers to questions to each other, students actually increase
their understanding. In this method of conversation, actually the process of
discussion is more important than right or wrong answers. The application of Co-Operative
learning first started in the 1970s. Since then, the operating learning is the best
among the teaching techniques that have been used in the classroom. It is the
most important technique that has been researched the most. Most research has
concluded that the operative learning in the class room is a highly successful
strategy that not only increases the likelihood of educational success but also
improves the cooperative approach. It not only increases the morale of the
students but also helps them to learn moral values.
Many researchers made the cooperative learning point of
view clear. Its educational and social benefits have been recognized worldwide.
George defines cooperative learning as a method of
learning in an optimal social environment in which students learn in one or two
small groups. Cooperative learning is a learning environment in which students
work together to achieve desired learning goals with a common goal in mind.
Students work together in a small groups and benefit from each other's skills
to achieve a common goal.
Research shows that cooperative learning techniques:
I. Promote learning and teaching success in students
ii.Maintain students' interest in education.
iii.Increase student satisfaction with their teaching
experiences.
iv.Develop interpersonal communication skills in
students.
v.Develop the social skills of students.
vi.Increase students' self-esteem.
vii. Help in developing critical thinking.
Research has further highlighted the social benefits of
co-operative learning. Co-operative learning increases students' ability to
improve their performance in their classrooms and schools. Improves their behavior in the community and
with peers. It has been tested that a positive change in students' behavior
creates more motivation in them to achieve academic success. Classrooms are
great social gatherings plate forms.
But when teachers focus on individualized instruction,
the physical aspects of the classroom are often considered a source of
confusion. Better teaching is possible if teachers make better use of these
social aspects of the classroom and its social organization. Co-operative
learning improves students' communication skills and develops their ability to
live and work successfully in a diverse society.
THE PURPOSE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING:
Cooperative learning is recommended in the classroom for four main reasons.
1-Active
Learning:
Approach to teaching methods based on the teacher's lecture helps to engage a large number of
students in an active learning process. Cooperative strategies in which
students work together in groups make it possible for students to actively
participate in the teaching process. Instead of passively storing information
in their minds, cooperative learning not only allows students to be more active
in the learning process, but also to learn from and teach their fellow
students.
2-
Children learn to help and support:
Instead of a competitive teaching atmosphere, cooperative
learning encourages students to help their fellow students in learning. In this
way students exchange their skills and abilities with each other and help each
other. Cooperative learning provides an opportunity for high performing
students to help weaker students. In this way by working on a problem together,
students learn to define the problem more clearly in their own minds than is
the case with individual instruction.
3-Interaction brings multiple dimensions:
Working in groups, students discuss the same topic and highlight its different aspects. When a student works in isolation, such productive discussions and acquisition of useful information are not possible. Co-operating learning gives students the opportunity to ask each other questions and draw instructional conclusions that cannot be drawn by a teacher asking questions from different students in the class.
4-Improved
Critical Thinking:
In a classroom with co-operating learning, where
different viewpoints and even opposing viewpoints are widely accepted, such an
environment teaches students how to participate in conversations and how to ask
questions. They don't just learn concepts and memorize them, but work together
to solve a problem, discover a conclusion, or at least agree on a point of
view. In this way, a deep and critical analysis of a subject is possible.
MAJOR OUTCOMES OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING:
i. Students learn better and their knowledge increases
more.
ii. Critical thinking skills are developed.
iii. Students spend more time in the learning process and
less in daydreaming.
iv. There is a
decrease in students leaving their education.
v. Students are motivated for education.
vi. Students look satisfied with their learning
experiences.
Social Development:
i- Students' disruptive behaviors are reduced.
ii- Students develop better relationships with their
peers.
iii- Self-confidence of students increases.
iv- Students learn to use better social skills.
v- Students' attitudes towards school improve.
Communication:
i- Students learn to exchange information.
ii- They learn to change the perspective of others.
iii- Helps improve students' oral communication skills.
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